Comments

MLB Picks

MLB Betting: San Francisco Giants Team Profile 2016

It is less than three weeks until the 2016 MLB season starts and the LT Profits Group are profiling all 30 teams to help with your MLB picks, today looking at the San Francisco Giants.

It is almost time to play ball, with the 2016 MLB season now less than three weeks away as the festivities kick off with three games on Sunday, April 3rd, with the rest of the league then starting play Monday, April 4th. So in an attempt to assist with your MLB picks, we are here profiling all 30 Major League Baseball teams in advance of opening day and today we examine the San Francisco Giants, who finished in second place in the National League West in 2015 at 84-78.

We begin with a summary of the San Francisco betting statistics for the 2015 season. Note that these stats are always for regular season games only and that the units won or lost are based on betting one unit every game, with those units and Over/Under records based on the closing lines from Pinnacle Sports.

San Francisco Giants 2015 Betting Stats

Home

Away

Overall

Record

47-34

37-44

84-78

Units Won/Lost

+4.66

-5.36

-0.70

Over/Under

34-44-3

45-29-7

79-73-10

The Giants could have won the National League West last season if they could have only been better on the road in 2015, where they finished seven games under .500. That losing record and it accompanying -5.36 units on the money line cost the team’s supporters a profitable season, as the flat San Francisco loss of -0.70 units left the Giants 11th in the majors on the Money Line Standings.

Next we move on to the Giants’ statistical summary for the 2015 season.

2015 San Francisco Giants Team Statistics

Total

Rank

Batting Average

.267

4th

Runs per Game

4.30

13th

Home Runs

136

27th

OPS

.732

11th

ERA

3.73

9th

WHIP

1.23

8th

Bullpen ERA

3.33

7th

The Giants are a team catered to their ballpark, as they play in cavernous AT&T Stadium. Thus, ranking 27th in the Major Leagues in home runs was no surprise, but San Francisco still hit well ranking fourth in batting average and a respectable 11th in OPS, suggesting an abundance of double and triples. And the pitching was good as you would expect, including both the starting rotation and the bullpen.

And now we take a peek at various San Francisco Future Odds on winning the 2016 World Series from several top sportsbooks. You can view these and other MLB odds on the MLB Betting Futures Directory.

Yes, the Giants are the consensus third choice among National League teams behind the Cubs and Mets to win the World Series, as well as the favorites to dethrone the Dodgers as NL West Champions. The optimism seems legitimate too, thanks to the additions of Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to the starting rotation and the signing of free agent Denard Span improving the outfield while fortifying the lineup.

2016 San Francisco Giants Batting Forecast
To the surprise of nobody, former MVP Buster Posey again projects to be one of the best players in the Major Leagues, with the ZiPS projections forecasting him to finished with an outstanding 6.3 WAR. And remember that although Posey is a catcher by trade, he still plays almost every day because he often plays first base on his “off” days behind the plate.

Other Giants that forecast for a WAR north of 3.0 are Matt Duffy (3.7) and Brandon Crawford (3.5), and the lineup has nice depth in the form of Joe Panik (2.7) and normal first baseman Brandon Belt (2.5). Also keep in mind that the addition of Span (2.4 WAR) probably means less playing time for Angel Pagan (0.4), which seems like a very good thing.

2016 San Francisco Giants Pitching Forecast
The Giants already had a studly ace in Madison Bumgarner, and now he and the newly signed Cueto are projected to combine for an 8.9 WAR, making as good as any 1-2 punch in baseball. And then Samardzija adds quality depth with a predicted WAR of 3.0 as a third starter. The rotation thins out after that, although Jake Peavy could be an adequate fourth starter especially when pitching at AT&T.

Santiago Casilla begins the season as the closer, but remember that he posted a career high 38 saves at the age of 34 last season so he may be in line for regression. However, Hunter Strickland could be the beneficiary of a heavier workload this year and he could very well be the future closer of this team, with that future quite possibly beginning the second half of this season!